LAHORE – Commuters traveling on Main Boulevard, Garden Town are being exposed to severe health hazards because of a dense layer of dust in the area caused by the ongoing construction of Kalma Chowk flyover, Pakistan Today has learnt.
The road is being widened because of the thick traffic flow coming from the Kalma Chowk side, causing a dust layer to form in the area, especially during the rush hours when the traffic flow multiplies. The traffic coming in from the Kalma Chowk side is been diverted on to the service lane of Barkat Market from the first signal. The traffic is then forced to squeeze into the service lane till the Season Chowk near Mughal-e-Azam.
The entire main road adjacent to Barkat Market has been blocked. The solution of controlling dust spread from a construction site is simple and only requires a water sprinkler on the site which soaks dust and cause to stick to the ground. “The situation has been like this since the construction started, the dust doesn’t only disturb the commuters, it also settles on foodstuffs in my shop,” said Asfand a shop owner in Barkat Market.
“I have to clean my fruits after every hour, the dust seems unstoppable”, said Alsam who owns a juice shop in Barkat Market. Earlier, Pakistan Today contacted the District Officer Environment Tariq Zaman to inquire about the case. The DO environment at first refused to take responsibility, saying that the project belongs to TEPA only.
Then he said that water would be sprinkled at the construction site from now on, after which a water truck sprayed water over the dust but was never seen again. The shopkeepers and routine commuters after this episode claim that water sprinklers were seen watering the construction site a few times but the situation reverted to the same scenario after a couple of days.
Commuters are still forced to take a ride through the dust cloud almost every day. “The water truck did come for one day. Since then we have been waiting for another truck”, said Imtiaz a shopkeeper at Samad Arcade in Barkat Market.
Health problems caused by dust include breathing difficulty, allergies and skin abnormalities.
